From heat waves to cyclones, flooding to drought, 2015 proved to be a wild year for extreme weather across the globe.
Millions of acres of forests burned. Thousands of people died from heat, and thousands more lost their homes to flooding and storm surges. In August, fueled by global warming and El Nino, three major hurricanes were spinning in the Pacific at once. To top it off, the world had its hottest year on record, breaking the record set in 2014 and shattering heat records on every continent, including Antarctica.
Scientists have long warned that climate change will intensify our world’s worst weather. If 2015 was any indication of what’s to come, humanity is in for a rough ride. Here is a roundup of the weather this year that brought climate change home to roost:
